Integrated fiber devices based on Mach-Zehnder interferometers and evanescent optical coupling

ABSTRACT

Optical Mach-Zehnder interferometers and related devices, systems that have at least one fiber integrated or engaged to a substrate fabricated with one or more grooves. An integrated optical monitoring mechanism may be implemented in such devices.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/224,560 entitled “INTEGRATED FIBER OPTIC VARIABLE ATTENTUATORMODULE”, and No. 60/224,555 entitled “AN INTEGRATED FIBER MODULATORMODULE”, both filed on Aug. 10, 2000. This application is also acontinuation-in-part. of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/884,883 entitled“MACH-ZEHNDER INTERFEROMETERS AND APPLICATIONS BASED ON EVANESCENTCOUPLING THROUGH SIDE-POLISHED FIBER COUPLING PORTS” filed Jun. 18, 2001which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/796,373entitled “INTEGRATION OF FIBERS ON SUBSTRATES FABRICATED WITH GROOVES”filed Feb. 27, 2001 and claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/280,617 entitled “TRANSVERSE OPTICAL COUPLING BETWEENA FIBER AND A WAVEGUIDE” and filed Mar. 30, 2001, and the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 60/214,686 entitled “WAFER SCALE FIBEROPTIC DEVICE FABRICATION TECHNIQUE FOR MASS PRODUCTION,” No. 60/214,589entitled “AN INTEGRATABLE FIBER OPTIC COUPLING TECHNIQUE,” and No.60/214,694 entitled “FIBER BASED FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXER”, all ofwhich were filed on Jun. 27, 2000.

BACKGROUND

This application relates to optical signal multiplexers, and inparticular, to optical signal multiplexers based on evanescent couplingthrough a polished fiber coupling port.

Optical waves may be transported through optical waveguiding elements or“light pipes” such as optical fibers, or optical waveguides formed onsubstrates. A typical fiber may be simplified as a fiber core and acladding layer surrounding the fiber core. The refractive index of thefiber core is higher than that of the fiber cladding to confine thelight. Light rays that are coupled into the fiber core within a maximumangle with respect to the axis of the fiber core are totally reflectedat the interface of the fiber core and the cladding. This total internalreflection provides a mechanism for spatially confining the opticalenergy of the light rays in one or more selected fiber modes to guidethe optical energy along the fiber core. Optical waveguidets formed onsubstrates can also be designed to provide spatial optical confinementbased on total the internal reflection. Planar waveguides, for example,may be formed by surrounding a slab or strip of a dielectric materialwith one or more dielectric materials with refractive indices less thanthat of the dielectric slab or strip.

Optical fibers may be used in transmission and delivery of opticalsignals from one location to another in a variety of optical systems,including but not limited to, fiber devices, fiber links and fibernetworks for data communications and telecommunications. Opticalwaveguides on substrates may be used in integrated optical devices whereoptical elements, opto-electronic elements, or MEMS elements areintegrated on one or more substrates.

The guided optical energy in the fiber or waveguide, however, is notcompletely confined within the core of the fiber or waveguide. In afiber, for example, a portion of the optical energy can “leak” throughthe interface between the fiber core and the cladding via an evanescentfield that essentially decays exponentially with the distance from thecore-cladding interface. The distance for a decay in the electric fieldof the guided light by a factor of e≈2.718 is about one wavelength ofthe guided optical energy. This evanescent leakage may be used to coupleoptical energy into or out of the fiber core, or alternatively, toperturb the guided optical energy in the fiber core.

SUMMARY

This application includes optical devices having at least one fiberintegrated on or engaged to a substrate fabricated with one or moregrooves. One portion of the cladding of this fiber is removed andpolished to form a fiber coupling port through which optical energy canbe evanescently coupled into our out of the fiber core via evanescentfields. At least two such fiber coupling ports may be formed atdifferent positions in the fiber such that this fiber can be coupledwith two coupling ports of another fiber or planar waveguide to form aMach-Zehnder interferometer for signal processing operations such asoptical attenuation, optical modulation, optical switching, and signalmultiplexing or demultiplexing.

The fiber may be mounted and engaged to one or more grooves formed in asubstrate in a fiber device. One embodiment includes a substrate that isformed with an elongated groove on one substrate surface, and at leastone opening located at one end of the groove that penetrates through thesubstrate. An optical fiber is engaged to the substrate by passingthrough the opening to lay a portion in the groove. The fiber claddingof the portion in the groove may be partially removed to form a fibercoupling port to allow for evanescent coupling.

The optical coupling between a fiber in a first substrate in one of theabove fiber devices and a waveguide formed in a second substrate may beimplemented by positioning the first and the second substrates relativeto each other so that a coupling port of the fiber is adjacent to thewaveguide to allow for evanescent coupling between the fiber and thewaveguide. A single fiber may be optically coupled to two or morewaveguides through its different coupling ports located in grooves ofthe first substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a fiber device that integrates or engagesa fiber to a substrate with a groove for positioning the fiber andopenings for holding the fiber.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a cross sectional view of the device in FIG. 1along the direction AA′ and a side view of the device in FIG. 1 alongthe direction BB′, respectively.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show examples of two different cross sections forgrooves shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E illustrate a process of fabricatingV grooves in semiconductor substrates by anistropic etching.

FIG. 6 illustrates formation of openings in V grooves by anistropcetching.

FIG. 7A shows a substrate that is fabricated with an array of grooveswith openings.

FIG. 7B shows a fiber device formed on a substrate with two or moregrooves, aligned with each other along a straight line on a single sideof the substrate.

FIGS. 7C and 7D show fiber devices formed on a substrate with grooves ona single side of substrate that are oriented in different relativedirections.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, and 9 illustrate substrates that are processedwith grooves on both substrate surfaces.

FIG. 10 shows a substrate processed with grooves on both substratesurfaces, where openings at both ends of each groove are separatelyfabricated from the V grooves.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show exemplary fiber devices by integrating fibers tosubstrates with grooves.

FIG. 13A shows uses of relative positions between grooves to controloptical coupling between fibers positioned in the grooves.

FIGS. 13B shows a substrate with both deep and shallow grooves formed ona single side.

FIG. 13C shows a substrate with both deep and shallow grooves formed onboth sides.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary fiber device that has lateral jump-channelgrooves on the substrate to change a direction of a fiber in thesubstrate plane.

FIGS. 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 show Mach-Zehnder interferometers based onsingle-sided half fiber couplers.

FIGS. 20 and 21 show Mach-Zehnder interferometers that use at least onedouble-sided half fiber coupler.

FIGS. 22A, 22B, 23, and 24 show embodiments for evanescent couplingbetween a fiber and a planar waveguide.

FIG. 25 shows one embodiment of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer formedfrom a fiber and a planar waveguide.

FIGS. 26A, 26B, and 26C illustrate implementations of a Mach-Zehnderinterferometer formed from a fiber and a planar waveguide with anoptical grating.

FIG. 27 shows design to engage a side-polished fiber onto a substrate byusing a groove with a single through hole.

FIG. 28 shows another design to engage a side-polished fiber onto asubstrate.

FIGS. 29, 30, 31, and 32 show additional fiber devices based onMach-Zehnder interferometers.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer may be generally formed by having twoseparate optical paths joined to each other at two separate joints. Eachoptical path may be a fiber or planar waveguide. One joint may be usedas an input port at which an input optical signal originally in eitherone optical path is received and split into-two equal optical signalsseparately in the two optical paths. Accordingly, the other joint at theopposite sides of the optical paths may be used as the output port atwhich the two optical signals, after propagating through the twoseparate optical paths, are combined to interfere with each other. Thisdevice is a 4-termianl device with two inputs and two outputs.

In such a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, each of the input and outputjoints can be formed by overlapping the two optical paths over a regionwith a desired coupling length to allow for energy coupling therebetweenso that it is essentially a 3-dB directional coupler and the couplinglength in the overlapped region is selected to produce a relative phaseshift of π/2 for optical signals at wavelengths that are to be equallydivided in the two optical paths. Hence, the total phase shift at eachoutput optical path after the output port is a sum of the phase shift atthe input joint port, the phase shift between the two optical pathsbetween the input and output joint ports, and the phase shift at theoutput joint port. The phase shift between the two optical paths isdetermined by the optical path lengths, i.e., the refractive indexmultiplied by the physical length, of the two optical paths. Dependingon whether the phase difference between the two optical paths betweenthe input and output ports is 2Nπ or 2(N+1)π, where N=0, ±1, ±2, etc.,the interference can make an input signal from one optical path toeither stay in the same optical path at the output or switch to theother optical path at the output.

In WDM applications wherein different WDM channels are evenly spaced inthe frequency domain, the difference in the total phase shifts betweentwo adjacent WDM channels in such a Mach-Zehnder interferometer may be πso that the total phase shifts for the odd-numbered WDM channels are 2Nπwhile the total phase shifts for the even-numbered WDM channels are2(N+1)π (N=0, ±1, ±2, etc.), or vice versa. Hence, the Mach-Zehnderinterferometer may select all even-numbered WDM channels to output atone output optical path and all odd-numbered WDM channels to output atthe other output optical path.

The devices and techniques of this application use at least one fiberintegrated on or engaged to a substrate fabricated with one or moregrooves to form one of the optical paths in the above Mach-Zehnderinterferometer. One portion of the cladding of this fiber is removed andpolished to form a fiber coupling port with a surface that issufficiently close to the fiber core so that optical energy can becoupled via-evanescent fields out of or into the fiber core. At leasttwo such fiber coupling ports may be formed at different positions inthe fiber such that this fiber can be coupled with two coupling ports ofanother fiber or planar waveguide to form the input and output jointports for the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. As described below, the fibermay be integrated on or engaged to a substrate by engaging to one ormore elongated grooves and may be fabricated to remove a portion of thefiber cladding to form an optically polished surface as the fibercoupling port. The waveguide may also be processed to form a couplingport by, e.g., photolithographic based etching process.

The following sections will describe in detail the basic structures of afiber module or half fiber coupler device in which a fiber is integratedor engaged to a substrate with at least two fiber coupling ports. Next,embodiments of Mach-Zehnder interferometers based on such half fibercouplers are described.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a fiber device 100 where a fiber 140 isintegrated or engaged to a substrate 110. The fiber device 100 may beused as a building block to construct a variety of fiber devices,including but not limited to, fiber couplers, fiber attenuators, fibermodulators, fiber beam splitters, optical fiber switches, and fiberfrequency-division multiplexers. FIGS. 2A and 2B show additional detailsof the fiber device 100.

The substrate 110 may be formed of various materials, such assemiconductors, insulators including dielectric materials (e.g., aglass, a quartz, a crystal, etc), metallic materials, or any othersolid-state materials that can be processed to form the device featuressuch as grooves and through holes disclosed herein. Two parallel andopposing substrate surfaces, 112 and 114, are generally flat and may bepolished. An elongated groove 120 is formed in the substrate 110 on thesurface 112 and is essentially a recess from the surface 112. The groove120 may be fabricated by removing a portion of the material from thesubstrate 110 through etching or other processes.

The geometry of the groove 120 is generally elongated along a straightline as illustrated or along a curved line. Unless otherwise indicated,the following description will use straight-line grooves as examples.Some embodiments are described with specific reference to groove withV-shaped cross sections as shown by the groove 310 in FIG. 3B. The crosssections are generally not so limited and may also be other shapes aswell, including rectangular as shown in FIG. 2A, U-shaped as shown bythe groove 310 in FIG. 3A, a circularly shape or other suitable shapes.

The width, W, of the groove 120 is generally greater than the diameter,d, of the fiber 140 and may either remain a constant or vary spatiallyalong the groove 120, e.g., increasing from the center towards the twoends. The length, L, of the groove 120 may vary from one grove toanother and can be determined based on specific requirements ofapplications. The depth D of the groove 120 may be a constant or mayvary along the groove 120, e.g., increasing from the center towards thetwo ends. In general, at least a portion of the groove 120 has depth Dto expose a portion of the fiber cladding of the fiber 140 above thesurface 112 while still keeping the fiber core below the surface 112.Sometimes, the depth D of the groove 120 may also be selected to exposethe fiber core. Other portions of the groove 120 may have a differentdepth so that the fiber can be placed within the groove 120 under thesubstrate surface 112. Depending on the geometry of the groove 120(e.g., the apex angle of a V-shaped groove), the depth D of the entiregroove 120 may be greater than fiber diameter d. For a groove with arectangular cross section as shown in FIG. 2A, at least a portion of thegroove 120 has a depth D less than the fiber diameter d but greater thanthe sum of the fiber radius r=d/2 and radius of the fiber corer_(c)=d_(c)/2. This portion of the groove 120 exposes partial fibercladding of the fiber 140 above the surface 112 while still keeping thefiber core below the surface 112. Other portions of the groove 120 mayhave a depth that is at least the fiber diameter d so that the fiber canbe essentially placed in the groove 120 below the surface 112. However,in certain applications such as the device shown in FIG. 12, the depth Dof the entire groove 120 may be greater than fiber diameter d. Unlessotherwise indicated, the following description will assume that at leasta portion of a groove 120 to expose a portion of the fiber claddingabove the surface 112 and adjacent portions sufficiently deep to keepthe fiber below the surface 112. In case of the rectangular groove 120,the central portion of the groove 120 may have a depth D less than d butgreater than (d+dc)/2 while the portions on either sides of the centralportion may have a depth equal to or greater than the fiber diameter d.

Notably, the fiber device 100 includes two openings 131 and 132 that arerespectively formed at the two ends of the groove 120 and penetratethrough the substrate 110. Hence, the openings 131 and 132 are throughholes extending between the two surfaces 112 and provide access from onesurface (112 or 114) to another. The spacing between the openings 131and 132 essentially determines the length L of the groove 120. Theaperture of the openings 131 and 132 should be sufficiently large toreceive the fiber 140, e.g., with a diameter greater than the diameterof the fiber 140. The shape of the holes 131 and 132 may generally be inany suitable geometry.

A portion of the fiber 140 is placed in the groove 120 near the surface112. The remaining portions 141, 142 of the fiber 140 on both sides ofthe portion in the groove 120 are respectively fed through the first andsecond openings 131, 132 to the other side 114 of the substrate 110.After being placed in the substrate 110 as shown in FIG. 1, the fiber140 may be slightly pulled by moving the fiber portions 141 and 142 inopposite directions so that the portion of the fiber 140 in the groove120 is in substantially full contact with the groove 120.

Since a portion of the groove 120 has a depth D less than the fiberdiameter d, the cladding of the fiber 140 in this portion protrudes outof the surface 112. The fiber core in this portion of the fiber isgenerally kept under the surface 112. For example, the cladding of acentral portion of the fiber 140 between the holes 131 and 132 may beexposed. This protruded or exposed cladding is then removed and polishedto form a flat surface 144 of a length L_(c) that is above the fibercore 143 and is substantially coplanar with the surface 112 of thesubstrate 110. When the spacing, h, between the flat surface 144 and thefiber core 142 is sufficiently small (e.g., on the order of or less thanone wavelength of optical energy), the flat surface 144 can be used tocouple optical energy into or out of the fiber core 144 through theevanescent fields outside the fiber core. Hence, the length, Lc, of theflat surface 144 approximately represents the optical coupling lengthfor the fiber device 100. This coupling surface 144 may also benon-flat, e.g., curved to a certain extent, as long as it can transmitevanescent signals.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the fabrication of the V groove 320 andplacement of the fiber 140 in the V groove 320 as shown in FIG. 3B.First, a mask layer 410 is deposited over the surface 112 of thesubstrate 110 and is patterned by a suitable technique such as aphotolithography process to have one or more groove areas exposing theunderlying substrate 110. Next, the exposed portions of the substrate110 are anistropically etched to form V grooves.

If the substrate 110 is formed of a semiconductor, e.g., silicon, athermally-grown silicon oxide or nitride film may be used as the etchingmask 410 for anisotropic silicon etching. When the surface 112 is in thecrystalline plane (100) of the Si substrate 110 and the groove patternsin the etching mask 410 are parallel to the crystalline plane (110), anetchant chemical such as alkaline (KOH) can be applied on the silicon(100) surface to produce truncated v-shaped grooves. Since theanisotropic etching is stopped at the crystalline plane (111), thedimension of the V grooves, such as the groove width, and depth can beaccurately controlled by properly selecting the dimension of the groovepatterns formed in the etching mask 410.

Referring to FIG. 4B, after the grooves 320 are formed, the fibers 140can be placed in the grooves 320 and bonded to the groves 320 atlocations 420. The bonding may be implemented by a number of techniques,including but not limited to using an epoxy, glass frit thermal bond, orCO2 assisted thermal bond. When multiple grooves 320 are formed, anarray of fibers 140 can be precisely aligned in the grooves 320 with apredetermined spacing. The exposed cladding of the fiber 140 can then beremoved and polished to form the flat surface 144 as shown in FIG. 3B.

FIG. 5A shows one exemplary groove pattern 500 formed in the etchingmask layer 430 in FIG. 4A. FIG. 5B illustrates the corresponding Vgroove 320 in the silicon substrate 110 formed from the anistropicetching by using the mask 500. The opening of the groove pattern 500 isdesigned to gradually widen from the center to both sides along thegroove to be formed. Accordingly, the width and depth of the underlyingV groove 320 also increase from the center portion 510 to side portions520 that are spaced from the center along the groove 320. Asillustrated, the surfaces of the V groove 320 are not flat but arecurved as a result of etching through the above mask 500. FIGS. 5C, 5D,and 5E show the placement of fibers 140 in the above V-groove structure.

The above anistropic etching may be used to form both the V groove 320and the openings 131 and 132 at both sides of the V groove 320 as shownin FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 6, when opening of the groove pattern 500in the etching mask 410 is sufficiently wide, side portions 620 of the Vgroove 610 can extend all the way through the substrate 110 from thesurface 112 to the opposite surface 114 and hence create an opening 620on the surface 114. The openings 620, therefore, can be used as theopenings 131 and 132 to allow the fiber 140 to go through the substrate110 from the surface 112 to the opposite surface 114.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show that an array 700 of such V grooves 710 with twoopenings can be formed on one side of the substrate 110. The V groves710 may be aligned to be parallel to one another along their elongateddirections and are arranged to form multiple parallel columns 730 with aspacing 740. Within each column 730, multiple V grooves 710 may bespaced from one another by a spacing 720. The substrate 110 with thearray 700 may diced into multiple units each having one or more Vgrooves 710. Such units can be used to form various fiber devices. Hencea batch fabrication process may be used to process the substrate, 110and to simultaneously form multiple fiber devices with V grooves 710.

A single fiber can be threaded through different V grooves 710 in acolumn 730 between the surfaces 112 and 114 via the openings 131 and132. FIG. 7B shows an example where the fiber 140 is threaded through Vgrooves 710A, 710B, 710C, and 710D formed along a straight line on thesurface 112 of the substrate 110. A spacer 721, such as a rod, may beoptionally positioned on the surface 114 between the openings of twoadjacent V grooves to provide a support to the fiber 140. Such supportmay be used to reduce sharp bending of the fiber 140 which may damagethe fiber 140. After bonding and polishing the fiber 140, a couplingport is formed at each V groove on the surface 112 and is operable tocouple optical energy out of or into the fiber 140. Therefore, thisdevice has multiple coupling ports on the surface 112 to couple opticalenergy into or out of the fiber 140. When a proper control mechanism isimplemented at each coupling port, optical switching, opticalmultiplexing, and other coupling operations may be achieved.

FIGS. 7C and 7D show additional embodiments of fiber devices that twodifferent grooves 750 and 760 on the substrate 110 are not aligned alonga straight line as in FIGS. 7A and 7B but form an angle with respect toeach other. Numerals 751, 752, 761, and 762 indicate the openings of thegrooves 750 and 760 that penetrate through the substrate 110. In FIG.7C, the two grooves 750 and 760 are spaced from each other. A fiber maybe placed in the grooves 750 and 760 by sequentially passing the fiberthrough the openings 761, 762, 752, and 751. In FIG. 7D, two grooves 750and 760 are share a common opening 752. Such arrangements may becombined with aligned grooves.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the groove 120 with its two openings 131 and132 may be formed on both sides 1121 and 114 of the substrate 110 in thefollowing manner. First, two adjacent grooves respectively formed indifferent sides of the substrate are aligned along the same groovedirection. Second, the groove on one side shares an opening with theadjacent groove on the opposite side of the substrate 110. Techniquessuch as the double-sided photolithography may be used to form the Vgrooves on both surfaces of the substrate. Unlike the fiber device shownin FIG. 7B where the coupling ports are only on a single side of thesubstrate, a substrate with V grooves on both sides can form a fiberdevice with coupling ports on both sides of the substrate. Suchdouble-sided coupling capability can provide flexible and versatilecoupling configurations in various fiber devices.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C illustrate one example of a fiber device 800 thathas V grooves on both sides 112 and 114 of the substrate 110. A first Vgroove 820 is formed on the side 114. Similar to the V grooves in FIGS.5B and 6, the depth and width of the V groove 820 increase from itscenter towards both ends 820A and 820B. A second, similar V groove 810is formed on the opposite side 112 along the same groove direction. Theend 810A of the second groove 810 overlaps with the end 820A of thefirst V groove 820 to create a through hole 812 that connects the Vgrooves 810 and 820. A third V groove 830 is also shown on the side 112to have one end 830A overlap with the end 820B of the V groove 820 onthe opposite side 114. A through hole 822 is then formed at theoverlapping region to connect the V groove 820 to the V groove 830. Afiber 140 is shown in EIG. 8C to thread through the holes 812 and 822 toform coupling ports on both sides 112 and 114 of the substrate 110.

FIG. 8D shows a 3-port fiber device 840 that is formed by dicing alinear array of V grooves 810, 820, and 830 from the substrate 110.Comparing to the single-side device shown in FIG. 7B, the naturalcurvature of the V grooves formed on both sides eliminates the spacers740. Similar to the batch fabrication of the single-sided devices shownin FIG. 7A, multiple double-sided devices may also be simultaneouslyfabricated from a single-sided substrate as illustrated in FIG. 9.

In the above devices with V grooves formed on both sides of thesubstrate, two adjacent V grooves, located on opposite sides of thesubstrate, may not be aligned along a straight line but form an anglewith each other as illustrated by the adjacent grooves formed on thesame side shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D. Similar to the grooves in FIGS. 7Aand 7B, two adjacent V grooves, located on opposite sides of thesubstrate, may also be designed to spatially separate from each otherwithout sharing a common opening that penetrates through the substrateand extends between two sides of the substrate.

The openings in the above examples of V grooves are formed byanistropically etching for forming the V grooves. Hence, there is noneed to use a separate process to fabricate the openings if the etchingmask is properly designed. However, a separate fabrication step may alsobe used to form an opening and to achieve any desired geometric shape ofthe opening that may be difficult or impossible to make through etchingthe V grooves.

FIG. 10 illustrates a fiber device 1000 with aligned V grooves 810, 820,and 830 on both sides 112 and 114 of the substrate 110 that are spacedfrom one another by rectangular openings 1010 and 1020. V grooves 810and 830 are formed on the side 114 and the groove 820 is formed on theopposite surface 112 but is located between the grooves 810 and 830. Anetching process separate from etching of the V grooves is needed to formsuch openings 1010 and 1020. Other processing techniques such as lasermachining may also be used to form the openings.

The above fiber devices with V grooves either on one side or two sidesmay be used to form various fiber devices. Some exemplary devices aredescribed below.

FIG. 11 shows an optical fiber coupler 1100 by using two substrates 1110and 1120 each with V grooves on a single surface of the substrate. Thesubstrate 1110 has a surface 1110A on which three V grooves arefabricated and a fiber 140A is placed therein to form three couplingports 1111, 1112, and 1113. Similarly, the substrate 1120 has a surface1120A on which three V grooves are fabricated and a fiber 140B is placedtherein to form three coupling ports 1121, 1122, and 1123. The twosubstrates 1110 and 1120 are engaged by having the surfaces 1110A and1120A to face each other. The ports on one substrate substantiallyoverlap with the coupling ports of another substrate to allow energyexchange between the fibers 140A and 140B. Various techniques may beused to engage the two substrates together, such as optical epoxy, glassfrit thermal bond, CO2 laser assisted thermal bond.

A fiber device with V grooves on both sides of the substrate can be usedto provide coupling on both sides. More coupling flexibility can beachieved in such a device than a device with grooves on only one side.For example, each fiber in the device 1100 shown in FIG. 11 cannot beaccessed from the exposed surfaces 1110B and 1120B. Such access would bepossible if one of the two substrates 1110 and 1120 were designed tohave grooves on both sides. Thus, three or more substrates may bevertically stacked together to form a multi-layer optical coupler. Sinceeach substrate may have two or more fibers, coupling among many fibersin different substrates may be achieved.

FIG. 12 shows a 4-layer opticalmulti-port coupler 1200 having 4different double-sided substrates 1201, 1202, 1203, and 1204 based onthe designs shown in FIGS. 8D or 10. Four different fibers 1210, 1220,1230, and 1240 are respectively threaded in the substrates 1201, 1202,1203, and 1204. Two adjacent substrates such as 1201 and 1202, may becoupled to form the coupling ports 1212, 1214, and 1216. Hence, opticalenergy can be coupled between any two fibers. For example, an opticalsignal in the fiber 1210 may be coupled to the fiber 1230 by firstcoupling into the fiber 1220 and then coupling from the fiber 1220 intothe fiber 1230. In general, a double-sided substrate can interface atboth sides with other single-sided or double-sided substrates.

FIG. 13A illustrates that optical coupling between two fibers indifferent layers may be controlled in a number of ways by controllingthe relative position of the two fibers in grooves. For example, nooptical coupling occurs between fibers 1301 and 1302 in the layers 1201and 1202 when they are placed in deep grooves to have a separation muchgreater than one wavelength of the light. The fibers 1303 and 1304 inthe layers 1202 and 1203 are positioned in shallow grooves so that aportion of each fiber's cladding is removed to allow for opticalcoupling. The depth of the grooves for the fibers 1303 and 1304 can becontrolled to control the coupling strength via evanescent fields. Thefibers 1305 and 1306, also in shallow grooves, are spatially offset inthe lateral direction so that the optical coupling is reduced with theamount of the offset.

The grooves for holding fibers 1301 and 1302 are “deep” grooves in thatthe depth of the groove is greater than the diameter of the fiber sothat the fiber cladding in the fiber portion in such grooves is notexposed above the substrate surface and no optical coupling port isformed. The grooves for holding the fibers 1303, 1304, 1305, and 1306,on the other hand, are “shallow” grooves as the groove 120 describedwith reference to FIG. 1 where a portion of a part of the fiber claddingprotrudes above the substrate surface when the fiber is placed in such agroove and can be removed to form an optical coupling port 144. Suchdeep and shallow grooves may be combined to provide flexibility andversatility in routing fibers and arranging optical coupling ports in afiber device.

FIG. 13B shows a single-sided substrate similar to the substrate in FIG.7B but processed to have both deep grooves 1312 and shallow grooves1310. Each deep grove 1312 is used at a location where optical couplingis undesirable. FIG. 13C shows a double-sided substrate with deepgrooves 1330 and shallow grooves 1320.

FIG. 14 further shows that a lateral jump-channel groove 1424 on asubstrate 1400 may be used to change the lateral direction of a fiber.The substrate 1400 is shown to have grooves on both sides. Solidelongated boxes such as 1410 represent grooves formed on one side andthe dashed elongated boxes such as 1412 represent grooves formed on theother side. The grooves 1410, 1412, 1414, 1416, and 1418 are alignedwith one another along a straight line to hold a fiber 1401. The groove1424 is a lateral jump-channel groove that is oriented with an anglerelative to adjacent grooves 1422 and 1436. Hence, a fiber 1402 can bethreaded through the lateral jump-channel groove 1424 to run throughgrooves 1440 and 1422 and then to change its direction to runthrough-grooves 1436 and 1438. Lateral jump-channel grooves 1432 and1444 are also shown to direct the fiber 1402 from the groove 1430 togrooves 1456 and 1458. A single-side substrate with grooves on one sidemay also be designed to have such lateral jump-channel grooves.

Such a lateral jump-channel can be combined with the verticalintegration of different double-side substrates to change the directionof an optical signal both laterally within a substrate and verticallyfrom one substrate to another substrate. This opens up possibilitysimilar to multi-layer printed circuit board technology allowingsophisticated connections from point to point and from layer to layer.

The above structures of fiber devices each having a fiber integrated orengaged to a substrate with at least two fiber coupling ports may beused to construct Mach-Zehnder interferometers in variousconfigurations. The following sections describe several embodiments.

FIG. 15 shows a Mach-Zehnder interferometer 1500 by using two fibermodules 1501 and 1502 (i.e., two half fiber couplers) based on thesingle-side fiber device shown in FIG. 7B according to one embodiment.Two fibers 140A and 140B are integrated or engaged onto two separatesubstrates 110A and 110B, respectively. Each fiber has two adjacentcoupling ports which are used to couple with respective coupling portsin another fiber to form the two joint ports of the Mach-Zehnderinterferometer.

In the half fiber coupler 1501, the fiber 140A has an input terminal1514A and an output terminal 1514B. A fiber segment 1510 between fibercoupling ports 1512A and 1512B is one of two optical paths for theMach-Zehnder interferometer. The other half fiber coupler 1502 issimilarly constructed to the extent that the fiber 140B has input andoutput terminals 1524A, 1524B, fiber coupling ports 1522A, 1522B, and afiber segment 1520 as the other optical path for the Mach-Zehnderinterferometer. The two half fiber couplers 1501 and 1502 are engaged toeach other by aligning their fiber coupling ports, i.e., the port 1512Ato the port 1522A, and the port 1512B to the port 1522B, respectively,to form a 2-input and 2-output device. This engagement may be achievedby using, among other techniques, an epoxy, glass frit thermal bond, orCO₂ assisted thermal bond. The joint ports formed by the fiber couplingports 1512A and 1522A, and by the fiber coupling ports 1512B and 1522Bmay be 3-dB directional couplers.

The optical path lengths of the fiber segments 1510 and 1520 in fibers140A and 140B are generally different so that a proper relative phaseshift between the signals in the two fibers 140A and 140B can beobtained to couple one or more desired WDM channels from one fiber(e.g., the fiber 140B) to the other fiber (e.g., the fiber 140A) whileother WDM channels remain in the original fiber (e.g., the fiber 140B).A number of techniques may be used to achieve this desired relativephase shift.

One technique is to create a fixed difference in the optical pathlengths of the two fiber segments 1510 and 1520 by doping or UV exposinga portion of one of the fiber segments 1510 and 1520. The doping or UVexposing is designed in such a way that one or more selected wavelengthsreceived in one fiber prior to the joint port formed by ports 1512A and1522A will be coupled to the other fiber after the joint port formed byports 1512B and 1522B. This processing produces a fixed Mach-Zehnderinterferometer.

Another technique is to create an adjustable difference in the opticalpath lengths of the two fiber segments 1510 and 1520 so that differentwavelengths received in one fiber prior to the joint port formed byports 1512A and 1522A may be selected, in accordance with a controlsignal 1532, to couple to the other fiber after the joint port formed byports 1512B and 1522B. FIG. 15 shows that, the fiber segment 1520 isdesigned to include an adjustable section 1530 that can change therelative phase difference between the fiber segments 1510 and 1520 inresponse to the control signal 1532. This may be implemented as amechanism to change the physical length of the fiber segment 1520, orthe index of the entire or a portion of the fiber segment 1520, or acombination of both. The index change may be a change in the index ofthe fiber core, or the index of the fiber cladding, or a combination ofboth. A control unit 1534 is provided to generate and adjust the controlsignal 1532.

The control mechanism based on the adjustable fiber section 1530 and thecontrol unit 1534 may be used to achieve different operations, includingsignal multiplexing or demultiplexing, optical switching, opticalmodulation, and optical attenuation.

For example, at a first value of the control signal 1532, a WDM channelat a wavelength, λ₁, in the input WDM channels received by the fiber140B maybe coupled to the fiber 140A while other WDM channels remain inthe fiber 140B; when the control signal 1532 is set to a second value, adifferent WDM wavelength, λ₂, in the input WDM channels received by thefiber 140B may be coupled to the fiber 140A while the channel at thewavelength, λ₁, and other WDM channels remain in the fiber 140B. Hence,the implementation of the section 1530 allows the device 1500 to operatein a dynamic or programmable manner in signal multiplexing ordemultiplexing. This device can also operate as an optical switch.

Optical modulation may be achieved by turning on or off a particularoptical channel in one fiber, e.g., the fiber 140B in FIG. 15, throughcontrolling the phase difference. Hence, the output 1524B of the fiber140B receives a modulated optical channel. In addition, the adjustableregion 1530 may be controlled so that Mach-Zehnder device only couples aportion of a particular optical signal received by one fiber to theother fiber while keeping the remaining portion of the signal in theoriginal receiving fiber. This partial coupling in effect attenuates theoptical signal in the receiving fiber and can produce an adjustableattenuation ratio to operate as a variable optical attenuator.

The above index-changing section 1530 in the fiber segment 1520 may berealized in a number of ways. For example, a thermal heating element,such as a thin-film heater, may be coupled to the fiber segment 1520 toform the section 1530 so that the refractive index (and the length) canbe controlled by controlling the local temperature. Also, the adjustablesection 1530 may be designed to change its index in response to anapplied magnetic field (e.g., ferro-optic effects) or an appliedelectric field (e.g., electro-optic effects) so that an external fieldmay be applied as the control signal 1532 to change its refractiveindex. In addition, the adjustable section 1530 may be photosensitiveand the control signal 1532 may be an optical beam that controls andchanges the refractive index of the section 1530 by the power level ofthe control optical beam.

FIG. 16 shows another adjustable Mach-Zehnder interferometer 1600 basedon the above design by using an additional index-changing section 1610in the fiber 140A. The index-control mechanisms of the twoindex-changing sections 1530 and 1610 in the two different fibersegments 1520 and 1510 may be the same or different.

Two or more of the above Mach-Zehnder interferometers, in eitherconfigurations with the fixed or adjustable phase shifts, may be formedin two fibers 140A and 140B in a cascaded configuration. FIG. 17 showsone exemplary device 1700 with multiple adjustable Mach-Zehnderinterferometers 1600 in FIG. 16. Fixed and adjustable Mach-Zehnderinterferometers in the fibers 140A, and, 140B may also be combined in acascaded configuration.

FIG. 18 shows a Mach-Zehnder interferometer 1800 according to anotherembodiment. Two half fiber couplers 1801 and 1502 have structurallydifferent designs. The half fiber coupler 1801 uses a substrate 110Awith an elongated groove that extends over a length of the spacingbetween two coupling ports 1522A and 1522B in the half fiber coupler1502. The fiber 140A engaged to the substrate 110A, hence, has a fibersegment 1810 positioned in this extended groove that is side polished toform a fiber coupling port extended over at least the spacing betweentwo coupling ports 1522A and 1522B in the half fiber coupler 1502. Thedevices 1801 and 1502 are engaged to each other to align the couplingports 1522A and 1522B of the fiber 140B to two coupling portions 1812Aand 1812B of the extended coupling port 1810 in the fiber 140A. Similarto the Mach-Zehnder interferometer 1500, the Mach-Zehnder interferometer1800 may be a fixed or adjustable device. The adjustable device may usean index-changing section 1530 in the fiber 140B. Alternatively, anindex-changing section may also be formed in the extended coupling port1810. FIG. 19 shows an exemplary device 1900 with multiple adjustableMach-Zehnder interferometers 1800. Fixed and adjustable Mach-Zehnderinterferometers in the fibers 140A and 140B may also be combined in acascaded configuration.

Devices shown in FIGS. 15 through 19 use single-sided half fibercouplers 1501, 1502, and 1801. Double-sided had fiber couplers shown inFIGS. 8A, 12, and 13 and 13C may also be used to form fixed oradjustable Mach-Zehnder interferometers. FIG. 20 shows that, twodouble-sided half fiber couplers 2001 and 2002 are used to form aMach-Zehnder interferometer 2000 similar to the device 1500 shown inFIG. 15. Different from the device 1500 in FIG. 15, two additionalcoupling ports 2010 and 2020 are respectively present in the fibersegments 1510 and 1520 on the substrate surfaces opposite to theinterfacing substrate surfaces. At least one of the coupling ports 2010and 2020 may be configured to have a variable refractive index so that acontrol unit 1534 could be used to control the phase shift of the devicethrough a control signal 1534. Mach-Zehnder interferometers in otherconfigurations as shown in FIGS. 17, 18, and 19 may also be constructedby using double-sided half fiber couplers. In particular, a single-sidedhalf fiber coupler and a double-side half fiber coupler may be engagedto form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

One advantage of using at least one double-sided half fiber coupler in aMach-Zehnder interferometer is that both sides of the substrate havefiber coupling ports and hence three or more half fiber couplers may bestacked together in a wide range of coupling configurations. FIG. 21shows one stacking example in which the Mach-Zehnder interferometer 2000in FIG. 2 is engaged to another half fiber coupler 2101 formed on asubstrate 110C so that the fiber 140A integrated or engaged to thesubstrate 110A can be optically coupled to a third fiber 140C in theseparate substrate 110C. The half fiber coupler 2101 is shown to be adouble-sided fiber coupler but it is understood that it could also be asingle-sided coupler.

In the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 21, the fiber 140C is integrated orengaged to elongated grooves in the substrate 110C to form at least onefiber coupling port 2110 on one substrate surface to interface with thefiber 140A. The substrate 110A is fabricated to have an additionalshallow groove to form another fiber coupling port 2120 for couplingwith the fiber 140C through the port 2110 therein. Hence, depending ofthe coupling configuration of the joint section between the couplingports 2110 and 2120, the fiber 140C may, through the coupling port 2120,supply one or more additional channels into the fiber 140A or receiveone or more additional channels from the fiber 140A.

Notably, deep grooves may be formed where fiber coupling ports are notneeded in the device in FIG. 21. For example, the substrate 110C isshown to have two deep grooves 2114 and 2116 so that fiber segmentsengaged thereto are buried in the substrate 110C and are not polished byremoving fiber cladding for evanescent coupling. In particular, the deepgroove 2116 is located at the coupling port 2010 of the fiber 140A toavoid interference with the operation of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer2000. Additional fiber coupling ports, such as 2118 and 2112, in thefiber 140C may be formed on the substrate surface facing away from thedevice 2000 to allow for additional coupling with the fiber 140C.

It is further contemplated that, the above evanescent coupling betweentwo or more side-polished fibers may be applied to evanescent couplingbetween one side-polished fiber and a planar waveguide. Such evanescentoptical coupling may be used to construct a variety of fiber-compatibleoptical devices and systems with unique and versatile applications. Forexample optical devices based on planar waveguide technology and opticaldevices based on fiber technology may be integrated in one package. Aplanar waveguide in this context is construed as a non-fiber waveguideformed on a substrate which may include planar waveguides in variousconfigurations, such as a one-dimensional planar waveguide (e.g., a slabwaveguide), a two-dimensional planar waveguide (e.g., a channelwaveguide and a ridged waveguide), and a three-dimensional planarwaveguide (e.g., a waveguide region surrounded on all sides by aconfining medium of lesser refractive index).

The evanescent optical coupling between the planar waveguide and thefiber may also be accomplished by evanescent field coupling. One ofadvantages of this evanescent coupling technique is the reducedinsertion loss compared to a conventional end-to-end coupling between anend facet of the planar waveguide and an end facet of the fiber. Theend-to-end coupling couples the energy between the fiber and thewaveguide along their optical axes and can have significant loss due tothe dissimilarity in the cross sectional geometries of the generallycircular fiber core and the generally rectangular waveguide. Theevanescent coupling can also reduce difficulty in the alignment ofoptical fiber to the planar waveguide compared to the end-to-endinterconnection.

In particular, the evanescent coupling technique can allow novelinterconnections between planar waveguides and fibers that would bedifficult to achieve with end-to-end coupling scheme. For example, twoplanar waveguides formed on the same substrate may be coupled toexchange optical energy. A fiber may be coupled to one of the twowaveguides to couple optical energy output that waveguide or inject anoptical signal into the waveguide. This essentially provides athree-dimensional coupling scheme since the optical energy istransferred between different waveguides in the waveguide plane on thewaveguide substrate and is transferred out of the waveguide plane to thefiber. As another example for the three-dimensional coupling, two ormore layers of waveguides formed on different waveguide substrates maybe stacked in the vertical dimension by using a fiber device tointerconnect two adjacent layers of waveguides. In one implementation, adouble-sided fiber module shown in FIG. 8C may be coupled two waveguidemodules on its two surfaces to allow optical coupling between the twowaveguide modules. Therefore, planar waveguide substrates can be stackedin various configurations. As a result, sophisticated optical circuitrycan be formed, e.g., in configurations similar to circuits in printedcircuit board technology.

FIGS. 22A and 22B show one exemplary coupling between a fiber 140 and aplanar waveguide 2216. The fiber 140 is integrated or engaged to asubstrate 110 of a half fiber coupler 100 as shown in FIG. 1 in either asingle-sided or a double-sided configuration. The planar waveguide 2216is formed in a waveguide module 2201 where the waveguide 2216 is inanother substrate 2210. The waveguide 2216 as shown is an example of atwo-dimensional planar waveguide which is buried in the substrate 2210as a channel waveguide so that all its sides except one are surroundedby the substrate 2210. This channel waveguide geometry may be formed byvarious techniques, e.g., implanting proper dopants in the selectedregion of the substrate 2210. The waveguide module 2201 may includeother optical, opto-electronic, or MEMS elements on the substrate 2210in addition to the planar waveguide 2216. The substrate 2210 includestwo parallel and opposing substrate surfaces, 2212 and 2214, that aregenerally flat and may be polished. The waveguide 2216 is formed overthe substrate surface 2212 to interface with the fiber 140 in the fibermodule 100. A part of the waveguide 2216 may be used to form a waveguidecoupling port for interfacing with a fiber coupling port.

FIG. 22B further shows that the waveguide module 2201 is positioned withthe substrate surface 2212 facing the substrate surface 112 to place thecoupling port of the waveguide 2216 adjacent to the fiber coupling port144. The waveguide 2216 is in the evanescent field of the optical signalin the fiber core 143. The surface 2212 may be directly in contact withthe surface 112 or be spaced from the surface 112 in the order of orless than one wavelength of the optical signal.

FIG. 23 shows a waveguide 2216 in a ridge configuration where thewaveguide 2216 is sandwiched between two lower index cladding layers2311 and 2322 formed over the surface 2212 of the substrate 2210. Aportion of the top cladding layer 2322 is removed to form a couplingport 2324 to interface with the fiber coupling port 144.

FIG. 24 shows a waveguide 2216 in a slab configuration where thewaveguide 2216 is sandwiched between two lower index cladding layers2311 and 2322 formed over the surface 2212 of the substrate 2210. Anopening 2410 is fabricated in the top cladding layer 2322 so that thefiber device 100 may be positioned to place the fiber coupling port 144close to the waveguide 2216 for evanescent coupling.

The above fiber-waveguide coupling ports shown in FIGS. 22A through 24may be used to form fixed and adjustable Mach-Zehnder interferometers.FIG. 25 shows one example in which a waveguide module 2501 with awaveguide 2216 formed on a substrate 2210 and a half fiber coupler 2002with a fiber 140B formed on a substrate 110B are coupled to form a2-input and 2-output Mach-Zehnder interferometer 2500. The fibercoupling ports 1522A and 1522B interface with portions 2510A and 2510Bof the waveguide 2216 to form the input and output 3-dB directionalcouplers. The index-changing section 2020 is shown to locate in thefiber 140B. Alternatively, it may also be in the waveguide 2216 betweenthe portions 2510A and 2510B. In addition, the waveguide 2216 may beoptically coupled to one or two other waveguides formed over thesubstrate 2210 to achieve optical coupling. For example, another planarwaveguide formed within the plane of the substrate 2210 may be engagedand coupled to the waveguide 2216 at a location outside the sectionbetween the joints 2510A and 2510B.

It is also contemplated that, a diffraction grating may be formed in theinterface between the fiber 140 and the walveguide 2216 in the abovewaveguide-fiber coupling schemes to assist or facilitate the opticalcoupling. The grating has a periodic grating pattern along the fiber 140or the waveguide 2216. This grating-assisted coupling may be desirableto obtain a high efficiency in the optical coupling. This is in partbecause it may be difficult to match a guided optical mode in thewaveguide 2216 to a guided optical mode in the fiber 140 due to factorssuch as the differences in the refractive indices, the cross sectiongeometries of the waveguide 2216 and the fiber core in the fiber 140,and the cladding structures.

FIGS. 26A, 26B, and 26C how three embodiments of fiber-waveguidecouplers where a diffraction grating 2610 is implemented to assist theoptical coupling. In FIG. 26A, the grating 2610 is formed in the fiber140. This may be achieved by fabricating the grating pattern in thefiber core or in the fiber cladding. In FIG. 26B, the grating 2610 isformed in the waveguide 2216. In FIG. 26C, the grating 2610 is formedbetween the waveguide 2216 and the fiber 140 by, e.g., forming thegrating pattern in a thin overlay layer between the waveguide 2216 andthe fiber 140. Such a diffraction grating 2610 may be fabricated by,e.g., etching, modifying the refractive index of the waveguide or fiberby UV exposure, or other processes. When the waveguide 2216 or thecladding of the fiber 140 is etched to form a grating pattern, adifferent dielectric material, such as a liquid crystal material, may befilled and sealed in the grating area to form the final grating 2610.The spatial varying pattern of the grating 2610 is essentially along theoptic axis 2217 of the waveguide 2216 or the optic axis of the fiber 140at the interacting region of the waveguide 2216 and the fiber 140.

The grating 2610 may also be a tunable grating which changes itsdiffracting characteristics in response to an external control signal.An electro-optic or a thermal optic material may be used to form thegrating 2601 so that an external electrical signal may be used tocontrol and tune the grating. This tuning may be used to select aparticular wavelength or light with a particular polarization to becoupled while other optical signals remain in either the waveguide 2216or the fiber 140.

FIG. 1 shows the use of elongated groove 120 and two through holes 131and 132 at the ends of the groove 120 to engage a fiber to the substrate110 and to form each fiber coupling port 144. Alternatively, only onethrough hole 132 in the substrate 110 may be needed to engage the fiber140 to form one of two fiber coupling ports in each fiber module. Asshown in the design 2700 in FIG. 27, the groove 120 may extend to oneend side 2710 of the substrate 110 so that one end 141 of the fiber 140of the groove 120 without going through a through hole. Both fibercoupling ports of the fiber 140 may be formed in this manner forcoupling to the two respective ports of another fiber or a planarwaveguide.

FIG. 28 further shows that, a single through hole 2800 may be formedthrough the substrate 110 between two fiber coupling ports 2810 and 2820on the substrate surface 112. Fiber portions 2801 and 2802 of the fiber140 are located in respective elongated grooves on the surface 112 thatare connected to the through hole 2800. The fiber portion 2803 betweenthe portions 2801 and 2802 is located in or above the through hole 2800.The fiber coupling ports 2810 and 2820 are used to interface with twocorresponding coupling ports of another fiber or a waveguide to form aMach-Zehnder device as described above. The fiber portion 2803 may bedesigned to have an adjustable portion similar to the fiber portion 1530in FIG. 15.

Many of the above fiber devices may be formed of an array of multiplesingle devices integrated in a single package. FIG. 29 shows an opticalmodulator array module 2910 formed from fabricating multipleMach-Zehnder fiber devices 2000 as shown in FIG. 20 in the substrates110A and 110B. Such an array may be fabricated in a wafer-levelprocessing fabrication process to efficiently utilize the wafer realestate and increase the throughput of the fabrication. Hence, eachsubstrate is fabricated to have the groove arrays and then the fibersare engaged to the grooves. Next, the fibers are polished by removingthe fiber cladding through a suitable process such as the Chemicalmechanical polishing to form the fiber coupling ports and the adjustablefiber sections 2020. Two half coupler modules with fiber arrays are thenengaged to each other to form the final array module 2910 as shown. Inoperation, each Mach-Zehnder fiber device in the array module 2910 maybe independently controlled to modulate one or more optical channelsdirected thereto.

FIG. 29 also shows an application of the array module 2910 in connectionwith an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) 2920. The AWG 2920 may be basedon the planar waveguide technology and include first I/O waveguides2923, arrayed grating waveguides 2925, and second I/O waveguides 2927,all fabricated on a substrate 2921. The fiber modulator array module2910 is coupled to the first I/O waveguides 2923 by uniquely couplingone Mach-Zehnder device to a corresponding I/O waveguide. In thiscombination, the array module 2910 modulate each optical signal receivedfrom or sent to the AWG 2920 and the AWG 2920 performs signalmultiplexing or demultiplexing.

The above fiber Mach-Zehnder fiber devices may also be controlled toprovide partial coupling between the two coupled fibers as VOAs. Onedesirable feature in a VOA is to monitor the attenuation ratio producedin a fiber. Such monitoring may be used to determine the actualattenuation produced during the operation in real time. In addition, anydeviation in the measured attenuation from the desired attenuation maybe dynamically corrected by controlling the adjustable section 1530 inFIG. 15 or 2020 in FIG. 20 by feeding such monitoring signal to therespective control unit 1534.

FIG. 30 shows one implementation of an optical monitoring mechanism in aMach-Zehnder VOA 3000. The VOA is formed from two half coupler modulesrespectively fabricated in substrates 110A and 110B as in the device inFIG. 20. The substrate 110B is a double-sided substrate such as the oneshown in FIG. 8C where the fiber 140B has fiber coupling ports on bothsurfaces of the substrate 110B. Two adjacent fiber coupling ports of thefiber 140B on one side of the substrate 110B are used to couple with thefiber 140A at two coupling ports 3001 and 3002 to form the Mach-Zehnderdevice. Two additional fiber coupling ports 3010 and 3020 of the fiber140B on the opposite the of substrate 110B are respectively located twosides of the mach-Zehnder device to interface with a third substrate110C. The substrate 110C is designed to have two fibers 140C1 and 140C2for tapping a small portion of light from the fiber 140B. The fiber140C1 has a coupling port to interface with the coupling port 3010 tosample, e.g., an input signal received by the fiber 140B. The fiber140C2 has a coupling port to interface with the coupling port 3020 tosample the output signal of the fiber 140B. The coupling strengths ofthe ports 3010 and 3020 can be determined and hence be used to determinethe attenuation ratio produced in the fiber 140B by the Mach-ZehnderVOA.

Notably, two optical detectors 3030 and 3040, such as photodiodes, arecoupled to the fibers 140C1 and 140C2, respectively, to measure thesampled signals obtained through evanescent coupling. A processing unitreceives the sampled signals from the detectors 3030 and 3040 todetermine the attenuation ratio. The detectors 3030 and 3040 may bedirectly fabricated on the substrate 110C or separate detectors that areengaged to the substrate 110C.

In an alternative embodiment, the fibers 140C1 and 140C2 may beeliminated. Instead, the detectors 3030 and 3040 in the substrate 110Cmay be directly interfaced with the coupling ports 3010 and 3020,respectively, to directly receive the sampled signals coupled out of thefiber 140B by evanescent coupling. In yet another embodiment, thedetectors 3030 and 3040 may be directly engaged to the coupling ports3010 and 3020, respectively, on the substrate 110B, without the thirdsubstrate 110C.

FIG. 31 shows that, above fiber VOAs with integrated optical monitoringcan also be formed in an array. FIG. 32 further shows an exemplaryapplication 3200 of such VOA arrays where two VOA arrays 3100A and 3100Bare respectively coupled to the first and second I/O waveguides 2923 and2927 of the WAG 2920. One VOA array, e.g., 3100B, may be eliminated forcertain operations.

In the above devices shown in FIGS. 29 through 32, one of two fibers ineach Mach-Zehnder configuration may be replaced by a planar waveguide asshown in FIGS. 22A through 26C.

It is also contemplated that, at least one buffer layer of a suitablematerial such as a dielectric material like silicon dioxide or siliconnitride may be formed over a groove under the fiber in the abovedevices. This buffer layer may be designed to have certain mechanical orthermal properties to stabilize the structure formed by the substrate,the buffer layer, and the fiber by reducing the mechanical or thermalstress between the silicon substrate and the glass fiber. Therefore thereliability of the device can be improved. For example, if the substrateis formed of silicon, a dielectric material with a coefficient ofthermal expansion (CTE) between the CTE values of the silicon and theglass fiber may be used as the buffer. Two or more buffer layers mayalso be used to achieve desired stabilizing effects.

Although a number of embodiments are described, various modificationsand enhancements may be made without departing from the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, comprising: first and second separateoptical paths joined to each other at two separate locations to form aninput joint and an output joint, said input joint configured to receiveinput optical signals from either one of said first and said secondoptical paths and split a received optical signal into a first opticalsignal into said first optical path and a second optical signal intosaid second optical path, said output joint configured to combine saidfirst and said second optical signals to cause optical interferencetherebetween, wherein at least said first optical path is formed by anoptical fiber engaged to a substrate to form two optical fiber couplingports on one side of said substrate which partially constitute saidinput and output joints, respectively, wherein said substrate includesfirst and second opposing substrate surfaces to have an elongated grooveformed over said first substrate surface at each location of said inputand said output joints, and at least one opening formed at one end ofeach elongated groove, each opening formed through said substrate toextend between said first and second substrate surfaces, wherein saidoptical fiber passes through each opening from said second substratesurface to said first substrate surface to have a first fiber portiondisposed in said elongated groove at location of said input joint and asecond fiber portion disposed in said elongated groove at location ofsaid output joint, each of said first and said second fiber portionshaving a portion of fiber cladding removed to form one of said twooptical fiber coupling ports to allow for evanescent coupling of energybetween said first and said second optical paths, and wherein saidoptical fiber has a first evanescent monitoring surface located on oneside of said input joint and formed by removing a portion of fibercladding for evanescently sampling an input signal to said first andsaid second optical paths, a second evanescent monitoring surfacelocated on one side of said output joint and formed by removing aportion of fiber cladding for evanescently sampling an output signal tosaid first and said second optical paths; a first optical detectorlocated to receive a sample of said input optical signal from said firstevanescent monitoring surface of said optical fiber; and a secondoptical detector located to receive a sample of said output opticalsignal from said second evanescent monitoring surface of said opticalfiber.
 2. The device as in claim 1, wherein said first optical detectoris engaged to directly receive light from said first evanescentmonitoring surface.
 3. The device as in claim 2, wherein said firstoptical detector is engaged to another substrate which is engaged tosaid substrate to align said first optical detector with said firstevanescent monitoring surface.
 4. The device as in claim 1, furthercomprising a second optical fiber having a receiving evanescentmonitoring surface formed by removing a portion of fiber cladding andengaged to said optical fiber by interfacing said receiving evanescentmonitoring surface with said first evanescent monitoring surface of saidoptical fiber for evanescent coupling energy between said optical fiberand said second optical fiber, wherein said first optical detector isengaged to a terminal of said second optical fiber to receive lightcoupled out of said optical fiber from said first evanescent monitoringsurface.
 5. The device as in claim 1, wherein a second opening is formedat the other end of said elongated groove located at one of said inputand output joints to penetrate said substrate between said first andsaid second substrate surfaces, said fiber having another portion thatpasses through said second opening to be over said second substratesurface.
 6. The device as in claim 1, wherein said second optical pathincludes a second optical fiber engaged to a second substrate.
 7. Thedevice as in claim 1, wherein said second optical path includes a planarwaveguide formed over a second substrate.
 8. The device as in claim 7,wherein said planar waveguide path includes an adjustable sectionbetween said input and said output joints, said adjustable section beingconfigured to respond to a control signal to cause a relative phaseshift between said first and said second optical paths.
 9. The device asin claim 1, wherein at least one optical path includes an adjustablesection between said input and said output joints, said adjustablesection being configured to respond to a control signal to cause arelative phase shift between said first and said second optical paths.10. The device as in claim 9, wherein said adjustable section isconfigured to change an index of refraction thereof according to achange in said control signal.
 11. The device as in claim 9, whereinsaid adjustable section is configured to change at least one of aphysical length and a refractive index of said adjustable sectionaccording to a change in said control signal.
 12. The device as in claim1, wherein said optical fiber in said first optical path includes anadjustable section between said input and said output joints, saidadjustable section being configured to respond to a control signal tocause a relative phase shift between said first and said second opticalpaths at said output joint.
 13. The device as in claim 12, wherein saidadjustable section exhibits an electro-optic effect.
 14. The device asin claim 1, wherein said substrate is configured to have a thirdelongated groove formed on said second substrate surface, at least oneopening formed at one end of said third elongated groove through saidsubstrate to extend between said first and second substrate surfaces,and wherein said optical has a third fiber portion that passes throughsaid one opening from said first substrate surface to said secondsubstrate surface to place a fiber portion with said first evanescentmonitoring surface in said third elongated groove.
 15. The device as inclaim 1, further comprising at least one buffer layer between saidoptical fiber and a respective substrate that holds said optical fiber,said buffer layer has a coefficient of thermal expansion betweencoefficients of thermal expansion of said optical fiber and saidrespective substrate.
 16. A device, comprising: a first fiber havingfirst and second evanescent monitoring ports separated from each other,and first and second separate fiber coupling ports located between saidfirst and second evanescent monitoring ports, wherein each of saidevanescent monitoring ports and said fiber coupling ports is formed byremoving a portion of fiber cladding to form a coupling surface within areach of an evanescent field of a guided optical mode of said firstfiber; a second fiber having first and second separate fiber couplingports each formed by removing a portion of fiber cladding to form acoupling surface within a reach of an evanescent field of a guidedoptical mode of said second fiber, said second fiber coupled to saidfirst fiber by aligning said first and said second fiber coupling portsof said second fiber to said first and said second fiber coupling portsof said first fiber, respectively, to evanescently exchange energybetween said first and said second fibers; a first optical detectorlocated to receive a first sample of a guided optical signal in saidfirst optical fiber that is evanescently extracted from said firstevanescent monitoring port; and a second optical detector located toreceive a second sample of said guided optical signal in said firstoptical fiber that is evanescently extracted from said second evanescentmonitoring port.
 17. The device as in claim 16, wherein said firstoptical detector is directly engaged to said first evanescent couplingport to receive said first sample.
 18. The device as in claim 16,further comprising a third optical fiber having a receiving evanescentmonitoring port formed by removing a portion of fiber cladding to form asurface within a each an evanescent field of a guided optical mode ofsaid third fiber, said third fiber engaged to said first fiber byinterfacing said receiving evanescent monitoring port with said firstevanescent monitoring port of for evanescent coupling energy betweensaid first,fiber and said third fiber, wherein said first opticaldetector is engaged to a terminal of said third optical fiber to receivesaid first sample.
 19. The device as in claim 16, wherein said firstfiber includes an adjustable fiber section between said first and saidsecond fiber coupling ports that is responsive to a control signal tochange an optical property of said first fiber between said first andsaid second fiber coupling ports.
 20. The device as in claim 19, furthercomprising a control unit that produces said control signal, saidcontrol unit coupled to receive information on a ratio between saidfirst and said second samples received by said first and said secondoptical detectors and to adjust said optical property according to saidinformation.
 21. A device, comprising: a first fiber module having afirst substrate and a first array of fibers engaged on said firstsubstrate, each fiber having first and second separate fiber couplingports and an adjustable fiber section between said first and said secondfiber coupling ports, wherein each fiber coupling port is formed byremoving a portion of fiber cladding to form a coupling surface within areach of an evanescent field of a guided optical mode of said eachfiber, and said adjustable fiber section responds to an external controlsignal to change an optical property thereof; and a second fiber modulehaving a second substrate and a second array of fibers engaged to saidsecond substrate, each fiber having first and second separate fibercoupling ports, each fiber coupling port formed by removing a portion offiber cladding to form a coupling surface within a reach of anevanescent field of a guided optical mode of said each fiber, whereinsaid first and said second fiber modules are coupled to each other toalign said first and said second fiber coupling ports of each fiber insaid first fiber module to said first and said second fiber couplingports of a respective fiber in said second fiber module, respectively,to evanescently exchange energy therebetween and to form an array offiber Mach-Zehnder units.
 22. The device as in claim 21, furthercomprising a control unit coupled to each fiber Mach-Zehnder unit tosupply said control signal to said adjustable fiber section therein. 23.The device as in claim 21, wherein each fiber in either of said firstand said second fiber modules has a first evanescent monitoring port anda second evanescent monitoring port spaced from each other along saideach fiber so that said first and said second coupling ports are locatedbetween said first and said second evanescent monitoring ports, eachevanescent monitoring port formed from removing a portion of fibercladding to form a coupling surface within a reach of an evanescentfield of a guided optical mode of said each fiber, said device furthercomprising: a first array of first optical detectors, each detectorlocated to receive a first sample of a guided optical signal in eachfiber that is evanescently extracted from said first evanescentmonitoring port; and a second array of second optical detectors, eachdetector located to receive a second sample of said guided opticalsignal in each fiber that is evanescently extracted from said secondevanescent monitoring port.
 24. The device as in claim 23, furthercomprising a control unit coupled to each fiber Mach-Zehnder unit tosupply said control signal to said adjustable fiber section therein,said control unit connected to receive said first and said samples fromeach pair of first and second optical detectors for each fiberMach-Zehnder unit.
 25. The device as in claim 21, wherein at least onesubstrate includes first and second opposing substrate surfaces to havean elongated groove formed over said first substrate surface at eachlocation of said fiber coupling ports, and at least one opening formedat one end of each elongated groove, each opening penetrating throughsaid substrate to extend between said first and second substratesurfaces, each fiber engaged to said one substrate passing through eachopening from said second substrate surface to said first substratesurface to each fiber coupling port positioned in a respective elongatedgroove.